Indonesia's Antam to hit nickel goal despite repairs

SYDNEY May 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) (ANTM.JK) (ATM.AX) said on Thursday it expects to meet its 2008 nickel output target despite shutting one of its smelters for repairs.

First-quarter nickel output of 4,362 tonnes was little changed against the same period a year ago, it said.

The company said it had so far reached 26 percent of its production target of 17,000 tonnes of nickel this year.

Performance at two of its three smelters was stable, while the other was shut for routine maintenance on Feb 19 and will resume in the middle of the second quarter, the company said.

"Despite the overhaul of the FeNi I smelter, Antam expects to achieve its 2008 ferronickel production target of 17,000 tons," the company said in a statement.

The smelters are overhauled every eight to 10 years, the company said. (Reporting by James Regan)